Moreover, he’s made it a lot easier for the average citizen to access much non-classified information.

And last year he signed a law that protects government officials who blow the whistle on waste and fraud. But not those who reveal information concerning matters which the government says – validly or otherwise – involve national security.

That brings us to the Mr. Hyde part.

The administration has hidden a vast array of orders and legal opinions in the name of national security and other concerns.

In other words, it not only won’t tell the American people about such things – which necessarily involve our tax dollars – but won’t even spell out its justification for refusing to do so.

The government also uses official-secrets laws to brush aside some lawsuits against it, without regard to merits of the complaints.

Meanwhile, Atty. Gen. Eric Holder has overseen six prosecutions of federal officials for alleged leaks to the news media. That’s more than were pressed by all previous administrations combined.

Along the way, the government has seized phone records from The Associated Press and spied on a Fox News reporter.

And guess how it reacted when a former National Security Agency official leaked details of government snooping on hundreds of millions of Americans. It’s trying to hunt him down and prosecute him for treason.

You can make a case that, as Obama says, that such responses reflect a necessary balance between security and privacy. Maybe they do, but they don’t win him any transparency points.

For many folks, Cheney may not be a very credible source. But these days, he has good standing to say, “I told you so.”

Years ago, he predicted Obama would change his tune when he encountered challenges posed by the war on terror. Such challenges led President George W. Bush to institute the Big Brother-type programs Obama has continued.

But, even if Obama was right to do so, that’s at odds with his recent assertion that it’s time to wind down the war on terror.

Indeed, AP writer Calvin Woodward recently described the president’s efforts as “trying not to butt heads with himself.”

At least some of us may be tempted to wonder whether that wouldn’t be such a bad thing; it might pound some sense into him.

Let’s hope, however, that such merger of the White House with the School of Hard Knocks won’t be necessary.

Sure, all of us sometimes have to learn things the hard way.

But it’s better for the rest of us if Obama doesn’t have to do so while he’s president.